Sorry, got side-tracked with work and visa documents and ex-wife issues....
Day 4 Leshan and the giant Buddha
Anna was hurrying me along to get ready because her other elder brother (no names) was coming to pick us up today and take us to see a stone Buddha. Ho hum, I thought, but I didn't really care what we were doing, I was happy that I was being organised to do things. Lots of phone calls (her phone is a permanent decoration on the side of her head) that I didn't understand. Then it turns out this brother didn't know we were at a hotel and was waiting outside her apartment across town. Eventually we were on our way in a tiny hatchback, me and Anna in the back and her brother driving and her friend along for the ride as an interpreter. I had no idea where we were going but it was several hours, lots of wrong turns over bridges and rivers even though he had a GPS, then we arrived in Leshan for lunch. All the row of restaurants had family outside insisting that we park outside their particular establishments, and there were arguments between all the locals as to which restaurant we were parked in front of and which one we were going to patronise.
The night before during a meal I had commented about the fish, not that I particularly enjoyed it but at least it was ingredients that were recognisable even if they were so plastered with chilli and oil there was no other taste. Well this lunch then had to be all fish, just to please me, even though I would rather have had something else. The fish was tasteless, a bit muddy, and full of bones which everyone just spits out on the table or the floor. Later her brother told me it was local fish caught from the river, and after seeing the colour of that water, I was not so sure it was safe. Also I had need to use the toilet at this "restaurant" and it was the most disgusting I have ever been in. A single room with a squat toilet with cracked and dirty tiles, just off the kitchen. Discarded on the floor were all sorts of unmentionables including used lady things. The hand basin had floor mops soaking in it, and who knows what they had just been mopping up, so lucky I had some hand sanitiser with me. Don't get me wrong - here I am a Scout Leader and used to all sorts of rough camping and boating situations, but this place was a definite health hazard. I just had to walk away and accept that if nobody dies, it would be fortunate, and maybe just one of those differences in standards between cultures.
Anyway, with that behind us, we had a great walk up and around the stone cliffs with ancient carvings, temples, and loads of photos. Then a really long wait in a queue (more than an hour) to get onto the steep track down the steps of the cliff by the river to view the giant Buddha - the biggest in the world apparently. Then another long walk back, and it was quite hot so we were grateful for the ice creams back at the top.
Another long drive back to Chengdu in the back of this tiny car (and I'm rather large), and I was keen on getting back to the hotel, showering and having a cold beer, but instead we were meeting more family and going to a huge buffet restaurant. This place was amazing. It had every kind of food imaginable, and they kept going to different parts of the place and bringing back more dishes for me to try. My favourite was the duck, and the pork ribs, and some of the seafood, although they really have no idea of what seafood should taste like in inland China. When Anna comes to NZ I'll show her what fresh seafood should be like, and it is not plastered in chilli oil.
She knows I like wine, and bought me a glass of "red wine" with ice cubes in it! Well it was cold and wet and marginally better than the beer, so I was happy.
One thing I noticed with their food - it doesn't seem to matter what they eat at what time of the day, and in what order. When at the buffet they were all interchanging between sweet desserts and chocolate, and spicy savoury dishes. They insisted on feeding me a chocolate cake with cream just as I was swallowing a piece of Peking duck. I really don't get that. Anyway it was all good fun and I was having a great time.
I ended up with cramp in my legs that stayed for about a week and was really painful. I had to get up in the night and take more painkillers just to get back to sleep. I'm pretty sure it was the long car ride in the back seat. Anna found some special oil which helped, so I wasn't complaining.
Steve.
